What are you all up to today? Have you found a way to avoid being productive on this sunny Friday? Are you doing anything interesting this weekend?

Me, I'm sitting here at my desk as usual, trying not to get carpal tunnel syndrome as I hammer out document after document. Howard Stern is talking in the background, providing another distraction to get me through the day, which includes me trying very hard to keep my composure with a lawyer for Comerica about language in a document. Who would have thought a mid-sized bank like Comerica would be so difficult to deal with!?

As for this weekend, I have a nice little Saturday planned. Going to take my oldest to a gourmet breakfast at IHOP and then hit the storage unit to move crap out of our house so we can put it on the market. (You'd be amazed at the amount of kids sh-t that you accumulate in just four years.) Maybe I'll cut the grass too. Not sure. Not sure if I'll have enough time.

(For all you Battlefield 3 players out there: Have you purchased the Premium add-on yet? Any thoughts on the new weapons? For you PS3ers, I set up a new platoon called "MGoBlog" (clan name "MGo") if any of you want to join. I'm playing under a different PSN these days so friend me up. I'm still playing late-night so if any of you are up late playing too lets squad up.)

Watching Euro Championship on ESPN. Quarter Polish, so I'll be rooting for them to have a good showing, especially since they're one of the host nations. And watching the US WCQ match tonight. One of my buddies from college is coming into town tonight as we've got a wedding to go to tomorrow.

For a' that, an' a' that,
Our toils obscure an' a' that,
The rank is but the guinea's stamp,
The man's the gowd for a' that.

I have meetings going up the chain all day. First my boss, then his boss, then his boss. Have to get ready for a presentation on Wednesday, the goal of which is supposedly to shame Europe into delivering what they were supposed to deliver six months ago. "Here is our intern who has produced the following effort toward this project in six weeks which you have not done in six months despite the fact that you supposedly already had it done." This would be cooler if it weren't a 7 AM meeting.

Getting ready for a whirlwind weekend. My pregnant wife is throwing a baby shower for her more pregnant sister (well, further along, I guess there aren't degrees of pregnancy) at our house. The extra stress isn't helping balance her hormones! I'll thankfully be mostly tasked with entertaining our daughter all weekend, which I always enjoy. Trying to think of something other than going to the park, hiking, or hitting the bike trail. Has anyone ever taken an almost 3 year old to an art gallery and survived?

Never done the art gallery with the little dude. Do they have a kids section at the gallery? Do you guys have any kind of kids museum or nature center around you? Those are always fun. Playgrounds are always a hit too. But hiking sounds like a great excursion for a 3-year-old. There is so much wonder along the trails for kids that age. Even just a twig can provide hours of entertainment!

I'm in the middle of the Hocking Hills in SE Ohio and we've been to all the parks a few times. Her favorite has always been the waterfalls. I was going to hit the Kennedy Museum at Ohio University and I'm pretty sure they don't have a kids area but there's a nice city park on the grounds of The Ridges where the museum is located. If you enjoy reading about the history of psychiatric hospitals, and who doesn't, The Ridges was actually a really well run institution that had a sad demise. Plus it's supposed to be haunted, so it has that going for it too. Anyway, she's been to several hands on science centers in the area. I don't know if we're just spending part of the day together or all day, so that will probably determine the plans. Good suggestions though. I'm excited that she's growing so fast but I have to admit I'd enjoy her staying this age for a while longer!

I'm mostly have training planned this weekend, I have some adventure races coming up. Riding my bike home from work, then I will be spending tonight navigating in the woods with a map and compass after dark for a few hours. Do some hiking tomorrow with a loaded pack, then maybe mountain biking some either later that day or Sunday morning depending on how I feel. Going to my friend's kid's baptism party on Sunday afternoon where I will likely undo all the work I did by drinking and eating too much. :)

I really want to see Prometheus. I'm not expecting Alien level quality, but it looks like the best Ridley Scott film in a long time (and one of the best sci-fi films of recent memory).

Speaking of great (relatively) recent sci-fi, anyone else really like Moon? Reminds me of Alien a bit, in that it portrays outer space life as very working class and not really all that futuristic (aside from, you know, space stations and space ships and whatnot).

I loved it. I usually hate 3D but I'd recommend it for this one. We had a huge discussion at work last week about what we were hoping to get out of Prometheus, so I'm not sure what defines quality in your eyes. I wanted more story and less pop-out-of-the-dark-that-makes-you-jump-even-when-you-know-it's-coming stuff and I got that. I thought it was incredibly well done, though, and I'd say it's right up there with the first 2.

I'm hoping for a thought-provoking story, some good acting, and more growing tension/suspense than jump-scares. I guess, even though I know it takes place in the same universe, I thought it didn't look like a new Alien, but that it had the potential to be in the Blade Runner vein, which would be awesome.

Revising a questionnaire that I've been working on, then putting that bad boy online to collect data for some psychometric testing. Maybe revise a manuscript for resubmission.

Also, sending out more job applications. Following the girlfriend to NYC after I graduate this summer, and it's my understanding that NYC is an expensive place, so I feel like I should probably have an income. Any one out there need a social scientist with a strong background in experimental research design and quantitative methods?

Avoiding work by looking up the passenger list of the ship that my grandfather and his family came over on from Germany in 1924. There seem to be several distant cousins on the ship, so I have been using my best google stalking skills to find out more about them. Unfortunately, I didn't turn up anything, but it's still fascinating.

Genealogy is a fun rabbit hole. I used to be incredulous that people found it interesting; "How can anyone make a hobby out of simply writing down when people were born & died, and who they married?" Then I got into it; there is no cure for the addiction.

It has deepened and enriched the connections I feel to my family and my spouse's family, and changed the way I think about many things. Very cool.